I would just prefer that the city does not provide preferential tax breaks. Every business owner in the CBD contributes to the benefit of the area, why do newcomers get goodies? But that’s a different (although I feel more legitimate) argument.

“They” would prefer such decisions be made by hippies based on wishful thinking, unicorns, and pixie dust.
Having said that, government should definitely stay out of this and let natural market forces develop the area.
Who’s to say Downtown SHOULD be developed and not dwindle like a product of a bygone era. In US cities, employment/business are becoming decentralized with diminished need for dense business core.

Its unsurprising that commercial real estate guys should occupy a number of board seats for the Downtown Management District or for Central Houston, Inc. After all, they’re the ones that pay the taxes. If the expenditures improve downtown and cause their own property values to go up, then so does their tax bill. That’s pretty much the point. And if the rent is high, then you see more development too. It’s all good.

Niche, the $37M isn’t an expenditure by the City, it’s a handout in the form of tax rebates.

Everybody who lives in the City pays property taxes, even renters via their rent because presumably the landlord would have to pass this cost down in order to make a profit (and renters actually pay more taxes because there is no homestead exemption on the property they rent).

The property taxes I pay aren’t mine to do what I want with, why should theirs be?